Galia Maor
Galia MaorIsrael news photo: Flash 90

The CEO of Bank Leumi, Galia Maor, is retiring after 17 years on the job. Galia Maor was the first woman to serve as Supervisor of Banks (in 1982 – 1987) and in 1995 became the first woman to head a major bank.

Under her stewardship, Bank Leumi managed to weather the great financial crisis of 2008 almost unscathed and emerged from it as Israel's largest bank, after overtaking Bank Hapoalim.

She is considered "a strong and assertive director" according to the Globes financial website and has been described as possessing a "quiet charisma."

Maor's published a statement Sunday in which she confirmed reports that she would be leaving. "Now that the management has completed preparing the multi-year work plan and that I am confident of the team's ability to successfully implement and carry out the plan," she wrote, "the decision to end my job has ripened in my mind."

Among the main competitors to replace Maor are the number two person in the bank, Rakefet Rosek-Aminach, and former Supervisor of Banks Roni Hizkiyahu.